


Rash Decisions

by Howlingdawn



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Pregnancy, Pregnant Amy Santiago
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 14:45:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19087186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Howlingdawn/pseuds/Howlingdawn
Summary: Amy's not quite used to the risks of being pregnant yet. So when she sees trouble on the streets, she does something that puts her unborn child in danger.





	Rash Decisions

**Author's Note:**

> I've officially finished the whole show now and I just. Love Peraltiago. So much. So so much. So naturally I must write whump for them :)

Jake wrapped his arm around her, and Amy leaned into the embrace with a contented sigh. The morning sickness had subsided for now, the day was warm and bright, and she was on a walk with her husband to get a delicious lunch for two during their break. Life, as far as she was concerned, was perfect.

“What dost thou crave today?” he asked theatrically.

Amy laughed. “You don’t have to say it like _that_.”

“But you are my _queen_ ,” he said in the same overdramatic voice, “and queens deserve _theater_.”

She shook her head affectionately. “Steak and peanut butter. And lemon.”

Jake’s mouth hung open, head tilted as he tried to think. “I… will _totally_ find you a restaurant that has all of those things.”

Amy dropped her head onto his shoulder, smiling. “What did I do to deserve you?”

“Well-” he started.

“Help!” a little girl’s voice screamed. “Help!”

Amy didn’t stop to think. She just spun, saw a young girl struggling the arms of a bulky man carrying her away down an alley, and she ran. She bolted across the street to the tune of wailing horns and squealing brakes as cars missed her by a hair, shouting “NYPD! Put the girl down and put your hands up!” over the chaos.

The man kept running. She was barely aware of Jake trailing behind, dodging and apologizing to the cars she had cut off. All of her attention was focused on the girl, crying all over her sparkly purple shirt. “NYPD!” she yelled again, drawing her gun even knowing that she likely wouldn’t get the chance to fire. Not without risking hurting the girl.

For a moment, though, the attempted kidnapper seemed to see sense. He slowed, shifting his grip on the girl as if to put her down. Amy kept moving, catching up to him, pointing her gun at his back. “Put her down,” she repeated, her voice a growl.

The perp did.

He dropped the girl; she hit the ground with a squeal of pain. Amy started to move towards her, her gun lowering just barely, her guard dropping for the briefest of seconds as her newfound mothering instincts overwhelmed her.

It was all the perp needed.

He yanked her gun from her slightly loosened grip and slammed the butt of it into Amy’s face. She gasped, blood spurting from her nose as she stumbled back a step. He grabbed her shoulder, shoved her down, simultaneously bringing his knee up.

He hit her stomach.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Then he shoved her aside, leaving her to collapse onto the pavement. She was vaguely aware of Jake running at him with a roar, knocking him out with a single powerful punch to the jaw. She was vaguely aware of the girl crying, of her parents rushing to her side, hugging her tightly in relief.

_My baby._

Her stomach throbbed. She rested a hand over it, every instinct screaming at her to protect the life within, the bump that had barely begun to form, yet terrified of applying any sort of pressure. Her head pounded and the world spun sickeningly, and in the chaos, she swore she heard a baby wailing.

_My baby._

_Did I kill my baby?_

Jake dropped to his knees beside her. One hand went to cup her head, a cushion between her and the ground. The other went for her stomach, but he froze for a heartbeat without touching so much as the hand shielding it, then went for the radio attached to her belt. “This is Detective Jake Peralta, I have an officer down. Repeat, I have an officer down. I need an ambulance-”

She tuned out, clenching her eyes shut against a wave of agony and nausea. She moaned, pressing into Jake’s hand, and it was then that she felt the hot tears on her cheeks.

_My baby._

The radio fell with a clatter. Jake took hold of her shoulder, brushing her hair from her eyes. Even in her injured, terror-clouded state, she could tell his smile was forced, could see the panic in his eyes. “It’s ok, Ames, I’ve got you. It’s gonna be ok.”

Amy shook her head, regretting it immediately as pain lanced through her again. “My baby,” she sobbed, her voice a tiny, broken rasp. “Our baby.”

“Hey, it’s gonna be- Ames? Amy! No, stay with me! _Amy_!”

His begging followed her into unconsciousness.

_I killed my baby._

\-----

Amy fought the return of consciousness. There was a weight on her belly, a weight that she didn’t want to think about. Nor did she want to think about how it still ached, or why that ache might never go away.

She didn’t want to wake up and know that her baby was dead.

But her body was insistent. Slowly, she opened her eyes, one terrified millimeter at a time.

The weight on her stomach wasn’t anything dark or foreboding or painful.

It was Jake. Fast asleep. Sitting in a chair beside her hospital bed, leaning over so his head was pillowed on her stomach. He held one of her hands, their fingers twined together, tucked against his heart.

_Maybe waking up won’t be all bad,_ she thought bleakly.

“Jake,” she whispered, jiggling his hand a little.

“Five more minutes,” he mumbled.

“Jake,” she repeated. Despite the circumstances, she couldn’t help but be a little amused by him and his comfortingly normal reaction.

He groaned, trying to bring her hand up to his lips to kiss her into caving. He bumped her side on the way and stopped, furrowing his brows. His eyes blinked open, and she could see the exact moment he truly woke up, clarity flashing in his eyes as he bolted upright. “Amy!”

His sudden alertness, the way his hand tightened around hers – everything came flooding back. The terror, the pain in her stomach, the guilt. She squeezed his hand in a death grip, tears burning her eyes. “The baby?” she asked, her voice tiny.

“She’s fine,” Jake said. Her heart nearly burst from the relief of those words. “The docs wanna keep you under observation for a few days, but they’re confident.”

“Really?” she whispered.

Jake nodded, scooting his chair closer to card his fingers through her hair. “Yes. She’s fine, Amy. Our baby’s fine.”

Amy closed her eyes with a sigh, pressing a hand over her stomach. Knowing now that her baby had survived, suddenly she could feel the fragility of the tiny life inside her, a little spark that could be extinguished with the lightest breeze. “I can’t believe I did that.”

Jake shifted, leaning back. “Did what?”

“I chased the perp.”

“You did your job, Ames.”

She shook her head. “My job is _different_ now, Jake. If I get hurt, our baby could get hurt, or worse. And I _did_ get hurt.”

“Amy, you were protecting a little girl,” Jake said. “What if you hadn’t been there? I wasn’t catching up to the guy. If you hadn’t chased him and he’d gotten away with her, you would’ve hated yourself.”

“And if I’d gotten our little girl killed in the process?” Amy asked. “How would I have felt then?”

Jake sighed, scrubbing a hand across his face. “I was scared too, ok? When you went after him, when he started kneeing your stomach, when you went down and passed out…” He shook his head, squeezing her hand. “Look, I’m not gonna tell you that chasing after that guy was a _smart_ idea, but your heart was in the right place. And this time, it worked out. So let’s take the win, ok?”

Amy bit her lip. “Jake…”

He leaned forward, pinning her with a firm, loving gaze. “Amy. I’m not going to fault you for protecting a kid. And I think that our own kid will love you all the more for being a badass who’ll do anything to save an innocent life. Don’t beat yourself up over this. Please.”

Slowly, looking at the utter lack of anger in Jake’s expression, Amy nodded, letting herself relax as some of the guilt melted away. “Ok,” she whispered.

Jake smiled softly, reaching up to gently kiss her forehead. She closed her eyes, leaning into his touch. “Thank you,” he murmured. “But, uh, let’s agree to never do this again? My heart can’t take seeing both of you hurt.”

She rolled a bit to pull him into a hug and bury her face in his shoulder. “Never again,” she promised. “Never again.”


End file.
